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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25891966">For What It's Worth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xio_Joestar/pseuds/Xio_Joestar'>Xio_Joestar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lucifer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone here is human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Especially Linda Amenadiel and Chloe, Hurt No Comfort, Linda Amenadiel Chloe and Maze have all minor roles, M/M, Sad Ending, Suicide Attempt, Toxic Relationships, Very mild cussing, alternative universe, possible ooc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:13:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25891966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xio_Joestar/pseuds/Xio_Joestar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucifer Morningstar and Marcus Pierce had so much in common, even with their opposite personalities, but somehow that mutual understanding was what eventually led them to cause so much pain to each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lucifer Morningstar/Marcus Pierce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>For What It's Worth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first Lucifer fanfic, and no more than a Piercifer one! I hope the characters aren't too OoC though. I hope you enjoy it even though it's an angst fanfic.</p><p>I put the archive warning and the M rating mostly out of precaution, just in case. I'm not sure if you'll find something really graphic here, but one's never too cautious, right?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Lucifer Morningstar was known for many things, but being in a long-term relationship wasn't one of them. Little known to many people, the renowned club-owner only had one of those and it ended up with both parties being hurt and going through so much pain they parted ways. It was for the best, even though it was painful considering they had too much in common. Sometimes even looking at himself in the mirror brought Lucifer those cruel memories. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The irony of it all made him laugh, really. He changed his name as a way to get back at his highly religious father, a punishment for his father, a name he thought appropriate for himself considering… well, everything. The cast out son from an influential and religious family, no wonder Lucifer found Marcus Pierce relatable and even endearing. Marcus was just like Lucifer in many ways, a loner who also changed his name. Lucifer believed he used to be called Cain as a Bible reference? He wasn't sure anymore, it had been a long time ago.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were young when they met, early twenties. Lucifer was a college dropout and Marcus a beginner police officer. They both came to Los Angeles looking for an escape from their awful families, even though Lucifer's caught up to him later, but that was a completely different story even though it affected how his relationship with Marcus progressed. It started like any relationship between people with opposite personalities would start, with a strange rivalry in which one constantly tried to outsmart the other and in the process exchange insults to each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was interesting to Lucifer how someone with a family history so similar to his could have such a closed personality. Before he got to know Marcus well, he actually thought he didn't have any other personality except his police officer persona, which was extremely stereotypical for Lucifer's likes. So uptight, so reserved to the point he talked with very few words or verbal expressions, his face always the same, rarely changing. He tended to stick to the rules whereas Lucifer simply didn’t care, and that was how they met, butting heads when Lucifer engaged in something quite illegal and Marcus got him. Since then, they found each other on more than one occasion, getting to know each other’s names. But they didn’t call each other by first names, only last names and derogatory nicknames they gave each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Officer Uptight Pierce.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lucifer the whore Morningstar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Piercing </span>
  </em>
  <span>the fun until it’s dead, I see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re literally a little devil. Seriously, it’s tiring to be catching you on these types of things the entire time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you weren’t so boring, you wouldn’t be complaining and putting so much effort in being my nemesis now, would you? Envious wanker.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m still surprised you hadn’t died from an STD yet. Or liver dysfunction.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m surprised you haven’t killed yourself from your own boringness.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it hard for you to behave just once?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As hard as it is for you to actually be fun!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Those were the kinds of conversations and arguments they had, but then everything changed, taking a 180 degree turn when a friend of Lucifer’s was murdered and he actually did everything he could to help the investigation. He did everything in his power, following his own leads, noticing details that even Marcus admitted he would have never noticed. And the feeling he got when the culprit was found and thrown into jail… oh, goodness, Lucifer would never forget it. He named himself after a punisher to get back at his own father, it didn’t seem far-fetched in Lucifer’s eyes to try to work for the police, even if that meant stumbling on his sworn rival in the halls of the precinct. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Marcus was surprised, taken aback actually. Who would have thought that disastrous man could actually become part of law enforcement? He did anything but enforce the law. There was no way, nor in Heaven nor in Hell, that Lucifer Morningstar could be actually useful for the city’s police department. Yet, that man who all he did was partying all week, having sex with God knows how many people, getting high on numerous drugs, and drinking unimaginable amounts of alcohol was actually helpful. Even if he didn’t really work with Marcus but with a coworker they both knew, Chloe Decker. Marcus noticed how his coworker’s close rate was getting higher and higher with Lucifer by her side and that was when he decided to approach Lucifer differently than usual, a surprise for both of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hear you’re a reformed man now, Morningstar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t really say reformed,” Lucifer said with a chuckle that was interrupted by his realization of who just talked to him. “Well, well, well if it isn’t Anti-fun Officer Pierce.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marcus rolled his eyes. “I hear you’re doing a great job here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you now? If I remember correctly, you were the one who told me I was going to completely ruin the LAPD the first time I stepped foot in here. Am I correct?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I did say that,” Marcus sighed. “But I noticed how much help you actually are to Detective Decker. So, I guess you aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m actually worse, Officer Pierce. But being a punisher is what I was born for, after all, I did name myself after the best of them.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that, the animosity between them grew less and less and they both started to understand each other deeply. Lucifer Morningstar, with all his contacts, all the money he had both from his family and his club, was actually a lonely man who only wanted to be understood, who only wanted others to see him for who he really was. Marcus Pierces, underneath all his layers to remain stoic, was just someone so tired of his sins following him he was trying to do some kind of good. But deeper inside, Marcus actually wanted to just die, everyone he cared for died, he just wanted to join them. He couldn’t help but feel it was his fault they all died, even though only a few of them were </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>because of him. He was just done with life. But Lucifer didn’t know that at first, he didn’t really get to know that until it was way too late and the damage was done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their relationship started as wonderfully as any other relationship. A close friendship where both of them were willing to do anything for the other and understood each other as well as they understood their own hands. A few dreamy-eyed stares when the other wasn’t looking and realizing what their feelings were after a moment of complete denial. An awkward confession in one of those times they hung up together, which was more of a date than anything else really. And more dates and cute details here and there. A note, a dinner in some fancy place, spending a night together, more gifts both cheap and expensive, a big surprise here and there, sex surrounded by candles and petals, an attempt to be better. All of those details one would see in a couple who were so into each other, you got a warm feeling on your chest of just seeing them eating ice cream in the park, their free hands on top of each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Where did everything go so wrong? Lucifer didn’t really know now, even though he used to be sure it was with the moment Amenadiel, his brother, came to Los Angeles. Now he wasn’t sure because even before Amenadiel came to town, Marcus had some really weird moments where he was overall distant or getting angry with so much ease during particularly frustrating cases he sometimes took it out on Lucifer. The relationship was on its very few first steps of going downhill, but Amenadiel’s arrival was the push that made it pick up speed until it crashed to the ground hard. It was a complete disaster, it even affected Lucifer’s friendship with Chloe, especially when Marcus took out his frustrations on him because then Lucifer would take out his own anger on her and even Amenadiel. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amenadiel was the only one of his siblings, of his family really, who saw Lucifer for who he really was. Amenadiel was the only family member Lucifer could say he trusted, even though he constantly found him annoying and insufferable. But that closeness was broken because of everything going on with Marcus. Lucifer lost a lot during that time. His partnership with Chloe, his only family left, and even his confidence in Mazikeen, who was the only one who dared tell him straight up how fucked up things were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your relationship with Marcus is going down, Lucifer. It isn’t working anymore! You two are screwing each other up!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re just having tough times, Maze, things will loosen up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, things will only get worse and, before you know it, you will become your father to each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mazikeen hit a sensible point there, too sensible, a weak spot Lucifer’s pride and blind love and trust for Marcus didn’t let him admit. He yelled at her, even fought her, and stopped talking to her altogether. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After having no one to turn to, Lucifer became possessive and at some point desired Marcus’ attention more than ever, turning things between them ever the more tense. And they knew each other too well, so well that they knew how to hurt each other when their frustrations only got worse, when they both were so tired of the other, of the way things were, they took it out on each other. There followed a lot of arguments between them that could be easily summed up in seeing who hurt the other more, who could wound the other’s pride more. It was Hell, a Hell the Devil made as a self-punishment for letting himself be controlled by his own emotions. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was interesting how someone who could understand you for who you really were the most could also be the one who hurt you the most. They knew each other’s weak spots perfectly, for they were very similar in many ways, sharing a lot of common pains even if their personalities were the opposite of each other. Vilified in their own families, a brother they had to watch die, a need to escape from everything, being lonely but never admitting that loneliness through some activity that could distract them. Marcus used work, Lucifer partying. They had another difference that was probably the catalyst to the frustrations growing more in their relationship: Lucifer had a brother who still cared for him, Marcus had no one. Not only that, Marcus and Amenadiel didn’t get along well, so, even if Lucifer tried at first to make them interact as family, because he genuinely saw Marcus as family, nothing could work. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You need to end your relationship with Marcus,” Dr. Linda Martin, Lucifer’s therapist, told him when he went back to his sessions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had been missing them when all of this spiraling down started, which was why he actually ended up hitting rock bottom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But why? He’s the only one who understands me and doesn’t think I’m crazy or evil.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s just it, Lucifer, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>isn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>the only one. He makes you feel like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course she had to word it that way because Marcus wasn’t the only one at blame here, Lucifer was too. He also made Marcus feel like Lucifer was the only one who could understand him even though at first it was unintentional. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Lucifer being the silly guy he is, he really didn’t get Linda’s message at first. He thought all they needed was probably hang out with more people, maybe go on double dates. Then, he just thought of a time but neither himself or Marcus were willing to leave each other alone for long, they always went back to each other’s arms and kisses, no matter what Linda, Maze, or even Amenadiel tried to say. It was until Marcus attempted to commit suicide when reality hit Lucifer like a train. Lucifer had an idea that Marcus had depression, even though he always acted tough in front of everyone, but attempting suicide, swallowing all those pills to cause himself an overdose was just… something that Lucifer never thought it would happen as long as they were together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?! Why did you attempt against your own life like that?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marcus just stared at him, no specific expression or shine in his eyes and Lucifer felt his own heart shatter there. Lucifer didn’t show pain through sadness, he did it through anger, and seeing those eyes so cold just made him so angry he rose his voice from a shout to a yell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“WHY?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I’m not happy with you anymore, Lucifer. I’m done. I used to view you as a reason to live when the job became so difficult to handle. But now, I really don’t have a reason to live anymore, I’m the same way I came to L.A.: broken.” He said it so matter of fact, so expressionless, it made Lucifer want to strangle him until he fell unconscious, cause him the greatest pains without killing him as a sort of punishment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I gave you the best years of my life,” Lucifer said with his voice cracking with rage. “And you just…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I gave you the best years of my life too, Lucifer, but they’re over. I wish my life was just as over.” He shrugged. “Guess this will be my punishment for now.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Indeed it was, at least for that moment. And it was also Lucifer’s punishment, considering he, even if he didn’t admit it and mostly blamed Marcus Pierce for everything that went wrong, was also at fault here. They both were. They were too similar to each other, they had deep wounds they needed to heal, wounds they poked too much because none knew how to deal with the new stresses their life as a couple mixed with outward complicated manners and some other old wounds reopening when memories came in the form of a visit. It was just too much for both of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marcus left Los Angeles, last Lucifer heard of him, he later became Lieutenant in Chicago. Whereas Lucifer spent a lot of time, getting so drunk he barely could remember anything he did those days, getting high to get some kind of bliss to at least be in the mood to have sex. He started spending so much he actually became close to bankruptcy, but Amenadiel saved him. It was the first time they talked in such a long time. He went back to therapy with Linda, which eventually led him to start to recover some normalcy in his life. Then it was Decker when he decided to go back to work, to straighten his path as much as a devil’s path could be straightened. And finally, Maze, admitting she was right even though he didn’t use those words exactly. Lucifer returned to normal and was his usual strange self, his usual cheery persona, everything he used to be before his relationship with Marcus went to hell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have some particularly lonely nights where he was at his penthouse, drinking some whiskey and looking up at the stars. He would take out his phone and look up his last messages with Marcus. The last time they talked was to apologize to each other. Lucifer at first was sure that Marcus was the only one to blame but then he realized he was also at fault here too and decided to apologize when he did. Marcus also apologized and that was when he told him he became Lieutenant but that was it, it ended there. Lucifer would only stare at those last messages before shaking his head and putting his phone back in his pocket. It was on those nights he would wonder if Marcus was even still alive, if he got out of his depression in Chicago, if he was seeing someone, if he was better now. Lucifer was better, he was perfect, but… what about him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is so frustrating,” he would scoff at no one in particular as he finished his whiskey in one gulp and placed it quite harshly on the table. He would go back to partying, looking for someone to hook up with and wake up the next morning feeling fresh as though he never missed Marcus, not even for a second. But the truth remained there, even if he would never know if it was reciprocal or not, even if the possibility for a second chance was zero, it was still there. For better or worse, for what it was worth in the end, Marcus Pierce had a special place in Lucifer Morningstar’s heart. </span>
</p>
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